Abstract #2178

Kim S, Jeong E, Kholmovski E, Parker D

It has been reported that DWI of excised human specimens can enhance the contrast between thrombus and vessel wall. To attain high resolution DWI of the human carotid, we have developed a 2D single shot reduced FOV preparation in conjunction with an abbreviated EPI readout using a pair of slice selective refocusing RF pulses with the selection gradient in the phase-encoding direction. Because of the single shot acquisition, each image is free from phase errors caused by the diffusion gradients. The results obtained indicate that DWI may be of substantial value as a new contrast for carotid plaque imaging.